Brit Hume, a host on Fox News, criticized his ex-colleague, Pete Hegseth, who is now the Secretary of Defense. Hegseth had slammed Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, as a ‘highly discredited so-called journalist.’
Hegseth, who used to work as an anchor on Fox News, responded to a shocking story by Goldberg. In the story, Goldberg revealed that he had been mistakenly added to a Signal group chat discussing a military operation in Yemen.
‘You’re referring to a dishonest and widely discredited so-called journalist who has repeatedly spread falsehoods throughout his career,’ Hegseth retorted to a journalist while he was in Hawaii.
‘Oh for God’s sake, the administration has already confirmed the authenticity of the message,’ Hume replied on social media, sharing video of Hegseth’s remarks.
Hume is a Fox News veteran that has worked for channel for 28 years and now serves as a chief political analyst.
Hume was referring to a statement from National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes, who commented on the record for The Atlantic article.
‘This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,’ Hughes wrote.
‘The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security,’ he continued.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth condemned The Atlantic editor Jeffery Goldberg
Fox News host Brit Hume fired back at Pete Hegseth’s apparent denial of the story
But Hegseth pointed to Goldberg’s role in pushing ‘hoaxes’ surrounding Trump being compromised by the Russians, the president’s comments in Charlottesville, and the story that the president called fallen American solders ‘suckers and losers.’
‘This is a guy who peddles in garbage. This is what he does,’ Hegseth said.
Goldberg wrote that Hegseth had ‘texted me the war plan’ including precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing of the military strike against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Goldberg revealed Monday that was mistakenly added to a group Signal chat by Trump’s national security advisor Mike Walz and described the ‘shocking recklessness’ of the conversation.
‘The Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,’ Goldberg claimed, adding that he would not quote from the update because of its sensitive nature.
Walz later texted updates to describe the operation as a success, as members in the group chat responded with congratulatory emojis.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks next to President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House,
Mike Waltz, US national security adviser, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House
Hegseth denied Goldberg’s assertion that the Secretary of Defense was sharing ‘war plans’ on the Signal app.
‘Nobody was texting war plans and that’s all I have to say about that,’ he replied.
The bungled text exchange called into question whether Waltz would keep his job in the administration, but President Trump made it clear Tuesday morning that Waltz would remain at the White House as his national security advisor.
‘Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,’ Trump said Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC News.
Trump blamed the exchange on a Waltz staffer.
‘It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there,’ he said.
Trump also dismissed the controversy, calling it ‘the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.’
